Saturday, May 23, 2015

There is in the Community a Sister who has the faculty of displeasing me and everything, and her ways, her words, her character, everything seems very disagreeable to me. And still, she is a holy religious who must be very pleasing to God. Not wishing to give into the natural antipathy I was experiencing I told myself that charity does not consist in feelings but in works; then I set myself to doing for this Sister what I would do for the person I loved the most.

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Here's why the Ren Faire was canceled and what we wish we could send to California.

If you look closely, you can see the rest of the road on the other side of the impromptu lake...

My parents took this photo last week, just a half mile or so down from their house.

The problem is that it has been raining off and on ever since and more rain is expected this afternoon, so even though the road was passable again soon after the photo was taken, the usual systems to deal with excess water are getting, well, water-logged.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

This idea can easily be adapted to all kinds of sturdy objects, particularly outdoor stuff and items that you aren't worried about the labels damaging whatever surface they are applied to.

I wanted to spray paint our rain barrels, but I also wanted to leave a bit of the blue showing, as the plastic is such that you can kind of see through it to tell how full the barrels are.

1. Draw and then cut out your petals. If the edge of the design includes the edge of the sticker, it will be much easier to separate the sticker from the backing.

2. Apply your name labels. Don't stick the whole thing down firmly--leave a bit so you can easily pull the label off. Make sure to apply the stickers so all of the not-stuck-bits are in the same place on the petals, as there will be a blurred edge in those places and if ALL the petals have the same blurred edge in the same place, it will look like it was done on-purpose.

3. Spray paint everything. Let it dry completely.

4. Peel off the name tag labels/stickers.

5. You can carefully scrape off the residue or let it wear away eventually.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

A few quick things before I head off to graduation at the school where I teach.

(I always think of Grandpa G. at graduation because Grandma
G. graciously and generous gave me his doctoral robes.It was such a kind gesture and I’ve always
been grateful to feel that in some small way I’m carrying on the work he did in
education.)

…. Belovedest had a 30-mile, 45+ minute detour on gravel
roads Thursday in order to get to work.Lots of flooding in our area.I’m
grateful that none of it is in our basement.

From the State Patrol Twitter Feed

… I finished grading!

… Thursday I did voice over work in Omaha, plus had lunch
with my dear friend Anne M., PLUS surprised Conner at his President Wax Museum
school project.Remember the Abraham
Lincoln tie I made?I got to see it in
action.

…. Dropped off some metal recycling.I made $8.23, in part because of 45 pounds
worth of office furniture that I intercepted from the trash.It’s not a lot of money, but I also know
whatever I bring is getting recycled instead of ending up in the landfill.

… We did LOTS of gardening stuff! Here are some tomato seedlings that are coming
up.We’ll be posting soon on decorating
rain barrels, doing soil tests, and making tomato cages.